eso9723 — Organisation Release

Top Ring in Place on VLT Unit Telescope 1

29 August 1997

Here are some recent photos from the installation of the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Northern Chile.

One week ago, the top ring which will carry the secondary mirror unit was attached to the mechanical structure of the first 8.2-m telescope (UT1). It is a torus with elliptical cross-section, of 8.5 m inner and 10.2 m outer diameter.

The first two photos in the present series show phases of this delicate operation and the third, which was taken yesterday, is the first to show the telescope structure much as it will look like when finished. However, there is still much work to be accomplished before the many other components, in particular the large primary mirror, can be put in place.

The fourth image is of the Paranal Observatory power plant which will provide stable electric power to this remote site. The plant will generate a total of 2.4 MW and is currently undergoing extensive tests.

Please note that since these images were electronically recorded and were primarily obtained to document the VLT construction activities, they may not be of sufficient quality for all reproduction purposes.